Restaurants at Disney...

[momjen]

Hi-
This will be our first visit to Disney and I need a little help with the restaraunts?
Which were your favorite ones??
We have a 2,5,8,and 10 year old if that helps!
thanks
C

[Dianna]

We enjoyed:

Rose & Crown -- because of the friendly service. We always seem to get a great waitress who loves to talk about her country and goes above and beyond to make our meal memorable. Get a 7:30 pm seating if you want a good view of Epcot's laser show, Illuminations. (They have their own private viewing area.)

Coral Reef -- the atmosphere is unique -- huge tanks where giant sea turtles, sharks, and other marine life are swimming around you while you eat. And don't miss the chocolate wave dessert -- yum!!

Whispering Canyon Cafe -- it's loud, but fun. Make sure you enjoy this type of environment (where the waiters/waitresses cut up with you) before you decide on it, though. Great fun for the kids.

Teppan Edo -- fun, good Japanese steakhouse. The chefs cook in front of you while you watch their "show".

Chef Mickey's (for breakfast) -- great buffet breakfast, great character interaction (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and others).

50's Prime Time -- fun, with great theming. I laughed more than I ate here. We had a great waitress who played her role perfectly -- made sure we kept our elbows off the table, fussed if we didn't eat our vegetables, etc. Make sure you enjoy this type of environment before reserving.

I'll add more as I think of them. These were just off the top of my head. Let me know what type of food you like, and what type of dining you enjoy and I'll be able to help more.

Warmly,
Dianna

[momjen]

Dianna
Thanks so much for this information. We were looking at the Coral Reef,Chef Mickeys and Whispering Canyon so that helps alot knowing that these are favorites!
thanks again
Christy

[Dianna]

Christy, let me know what other restaurants you're looking at and I'll let you know what (if any) experiences we've had with them.

Dianna

[tnusborne]

Almost every restaurant I am interested in is in the Epcot Center! How difficult would it be to park hop from other parks to Epcot every day for a meal? Can anyone tell me about Akershus Royal Banquet Hall? It appears to have a Norwegian style salad buffet at both lunch and supper. Is there a difference between lunch and supper offerings? Is this included with the purchase of an entree?
Thanks. Linda

[Dianna]

Almost every restaurant I am interested in is in the Epcot Center! How difficult would it be to park hop from other parks to Epcot every day for a meal? Can anyone tell me about Akershus Royal Banquet Hall? It appears to have a Norwegian style salad buffet at both lunch and supper. Is there a difference between lunch and supper offerings? Is this included with the purchase of an entree?
Thanks. Linda


It won't be difficult, in my opinion, but we have a different vacation style than some people. We wake up early to beat the lines in the food courts, and buses, and get to the parks when they open. We then have the parks almost to ourselves until about noon. At that point, we eat lunch (we beat the lunch crowds because most people eat late because they woke up late). After that, we go back to our room to take a dip in the pool and/or nap for a couple hours. Afterwards, we get ready to go to the restaurant we've chosen for dinner that night. (So it really doesn't matter what park we visited that day.) After dinner we go to another park and watch the fireworks or whatever.

The only thing you have to worry about is that you don't run out of park days. If you bought a 5-day park ticket, and you have reservations at Epcot restaurants for 7 days, you're going to have to pay to enter Epcot two days so you can eat at the Epcot restaurants those two extra days. They're not going to let you in the park without a park pass, even if you have reservations at a restaurant there. Does that make sense?

To find out what the menu is at Akershus, see the menus here:
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Dianna

[tnusborne]

It won't be difficult, in my opinion, but we have a different vacation style than some people. We wake up early to beat the lines in the food courts, and buses, and get to the parks when they open. We then have the parks almost to ourselves until about noon. At that point, we eat lunch (we beat the lunch crowds because most people eat late because they woke up late).

Dianna

This is what I planned to do, but I am thinking about forgoing the mid-day trip to the hotel in favor of watching shows during that time to avoid the extra travel time. Are the parks really that less crowded in the mornings during the time frame we are going? Is that with going to the park with the extra morning hours? What time does the lunch rush start? What about Supper crowds? How long do you spend traveling between the parks and your hotel and to the restaurants?
I probably should have started a new topic as I have veered off the original one. I do have a Disney Guides, but it seems to be focused on peak travel times. Thanks again. Linda

[Dianna]

This is what I planned to do, but I am thinking about forgoing the mid-day trip to the hotel in favor of watching shows during that time to avoid the extra travel time. Are the parks really that less crowded in the mornings during the time frame we are going? Is that with going to the park with the extra morning hours? What time does the lunch rush start? What about Supper crowds? How long do you spend traveling between the parks and your hotel and to the restaurants?
I probably should have started a new topic as I have veered off the original one. I do have a Disney Guides, but it seems to be focused on peak travel times. Thanks again. Linda

Linda, the difference in morning and afternoon during the time we're going is the difference between no wait or very little wait (around 5 minutes) to waiting 30 minutes or more. All this depends on the ride, but let's take Peter Pan's Flight, for example. Going before 10 or 11 am or so, it'll be probably a 5 minute or so wait. Around lunch time or later, it was over 30 minutes for us. Evening waits are longer, too, but not as long as mid-day.

I would skip the extra morning hour parks. Those parks tend to stay the most crowded all day long. I'm going to send a "tips & tricks" email in the next couple of days that talks about this, and how to plan your day to minimum lines and crowds.

If I remember right, the lunch crowds really start hitting around 12:30 or 1:00. I haven't really noticed about dinner crowds because we always have reservations. The time between hotel and parks depends on the resort you're staying at and the bus schedule that day. Usually it's not long, though -- long enough to rest a little on the bus along the way. :smile2:

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Warmly,
Dianna